“The perfidious Mrs. Cowbird” is a heart-breaking villain in Maud Hart Lovelace’s story about a little girl adopted by robins.*
Cowbirds lay eggs in the nests of smaller birds–cowbird babies then shove aside their smaller nestmates.
Some bird species fight back–for example, by pushing a cowbird’s egg out of the nest. But, in a counter-strategy to that counter-strategy, cowbirds check up on their eggs, ransacking and destroying nests if the cowbird egg has been removed.
I’m glad Maud Hart Lovelace didn’t know about this. I cried enough childhood tears over Mrs. Cowbird.
……………………………
* The Tune Is In The Tree, now out of print.
……………………………
Thanks, Amity, for emailing a link to this study!
……………………………
p.s. In much, much warmer and fuzzier bird news, Dervala’s Ranger Tim and his bachelor rooster are more or less brooding some tiny Easter chicks.
